Bill Text: HI SCR128 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Education, Department Of Health, Department Of Human Services, And Department Of Public Safety To Adopt Policies And Programs That Support Trauma-responsive Practices And That Take Into Account The Principles Of Early Childhood Brain Development And Adverse Childhood Experiences.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-06 - Referred to EDU/CPH/HMS/PSM. [SCR128 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2020-SCR128-Introduced.html

---

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	128
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Human Services, and Department of Public Safety to adopt policies and programs that support trauma-responsive practices and THAT take into account the principles of early childhood brain development and adverse childhood experiences.

 

 

     WHEREAS, adverse childhood experiences are traumatic experiences that may have a profound effect on a child's developing brain and body and result in poor health during the person's adulthood; and

 

     WHEREAS, adverse childhood experiences include physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; physical and emotional neglect; and household dysfunction, including domestic violence, separation or divorce, substance abuse, untreated mental illness, or incarceration of a household member; and

 

     WHEREAS, strong, frequent, or prolonged stress in childhood caused by adverse childhood experiences can become toxic stress, affecting the development of a child's fundamental brain architecture and stress response systems; and

 

     WHEREAS, adverse childhood experience studies have found a strong correlation between the number of adverse childhood experiences and a person's risk for disease and negative health behaviors, including suicide attempts, cancer, ischemic heart disease, diabetes, smoking, substance abuse, depression, obesity, unplanned pregnancy, workplace absenteeism, lower educational achievement, and lower wages; and

 

     WHEREAS, the life expectancy of a person with six or more adverse childhood experiences is twenty years shorter than the life expectancy of a person with no adverse childhood experiences; and

 

     WHEREAS, the emerging science and research on toxic stress and adverse childhood experiences have uncovered evidence of a growing public health crisis for the State, with implications for the State's educational, juvenile justice, criminal justice, public health, public safety, labor, and commerce systems; and

 

     WHEREAS, it is more effective and less costly to positively influence the architecture of a young child's developing brain than to attempt to correct poor learning, health, and behaviors later in life; and

 

     WHEREAS, the thirty-two-year Kauai resiliency study demonstrates that having protective factors within the individual, family, and community can help children overcome the odds and become successful in their lives; and

 

     WHEREAS, the federal Family First Prevention Act fundamentally changes the way that Title IV-E:  Federal Payments for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance funds can be spent and now includes preventative services; and

 

     WHEREAS, increasing trauma-informed care and services, investing in prevention and resiliency programs, and developing nurturing, resilient, and trauma-responsive communities can reduce the impact of traumatic events and adverse childhood experiences; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2020, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Human Services, and Department of Public Safety are requested to adopt policies and programs that support trauma-responsive practices and take into account the principles of early childhood brain development and adverse childhood experiences to give all children in Hawaii the opportunity to thrive; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Education, Superintendent of Education, Director of Health, Director of Human Services, and Director of Public Safety.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Adverse Childhood Experience; Trauma-Responsive Policies